Vijay Gupta

Virtual Program Date: April 17, 2021

One month before Richmond virtually hosts the international Menuhin youth violin competition, The Forum presented one of America’s most visionary young violinists. A 2018 MacArthur Fellow, Vijay Gupta is the founder of Street Symphony, a musical advocacy program that empowers citizen-musicians by engaging with communities experiencing extreme poverty, incarceration, and homelessness. Gupta combined talk and performance to explore the connection between music, mental health, and a healing community.

Vijay Gupta believes that the work of the artist and citizen is one: to make a daily practice of the connected, creative, and courageous world we long to live in. Hailed by The New Yorker as “a visionary violinist…one of the most radical thinkers in the unradical world of American classical music”, Vijay is an esteemed musician, speaker, and thought leader, serving to create spaces of belonging, healing, and wholeness through music.

Vijay’s labor of love lies in the creation and direction of Street Symphony, a musical community that serves to shift the context of conversations about homelessness, addiction, and incarceration from retribution to transformation. Street Symphony serves to engage the Skid Row community of Los Angeles through musical encounters and intimate conversations, operating on the core principle that every person has a story to be told, and heard.

An esteemed violinist, Vijay is a recording artist, an ardent chamber musician, and a collaborator. Gupta made his solo debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta at age 11 and has performed as a recitalist, soloist, and chamber musician on an international scale since the age of 8. He has also performed as a guest concertmaster with the Los Angeles Opera and the UK’s acclaimed Philharmonia Orchestra. Vijay served as a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 12 years, which he joined as the youngest violinist in the orchestra’s history, after completing a Master’s degree in Music from Yale University, and a Bachelor’s in biology from Marist College. In October 2020, Vijay headlined alongside the esteemed Kronos String Quartet for UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance “Tune In” festival honoring Pete Seeger.

For his work in bringing beauty, respite, and purpose to those all too often ignored by society, while encouraging us to reflect on many ways we can all make a difference in our world today, Vijay Gupta is the recipient of a 2018 Catherine D. and John T. MacArthur grant.

Vijay believes that an artistic and civic practice is a spiritual practice. He embodies a creative “sadhana” – the Sanskrit word meaning “daily spiritual practice”, and is the creator of the hashtag #creativesadhana on Instagram, where he shares his musical, literary, spiritual, and artistic practice. He invites you to create your own sadhana and to follow his journey at @guptaviolin.

Vijay plays on a 2010 violin made by Los Angeles-based luthier Eric Benning. His album Breathe, featuring the chamber music of Reena Esmail, is available on iTunes.